


Beorn's House: Beards and Bullying

by dab



Series: FiKiWeek 2018 [2]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Bullying, Durincest, M/M, Protective Fíli
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-09
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2019-06-07 18:09:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15225018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dab/pseuds/dab
Summary: A relaxing day at Beorn’s House is disturbed when some member of the Company insult Kíli’s facial hair. Fíli is not amused.





	Beorn's House: Beards and Bullying

**Author's Note:**

> This is my second work for the FiKiWeek 2018 organized by Gathering FiKi on tumblr.  
> The theme for today is Beorn’s House. This is my interpretation.
> 
> Edit for Durin's Day 2018: The amazing [BlooeyedSpazz](http://blooeyedspazz.tumblr.com/) has made a beautiful piece of art based on this story. You can find it [here](https://blooeyedspazz.tumblr.com/post/178900167034/fan-art-of-the-lovely-alwaysfarawayeyes-s). Please show her some love!

Everybody was glad they had found unexpected refuge at Beorn’s house. Being able to relax after being hunted by orcs, wargs, and goblins was a welcome change in their routine. It was therefore unsurprising that after a good night’s rest most members of the Company decided to bathe, wash their clothes and fix their tangled hair and beards. Dwarven hair and beard styles were designed to endure harsh circumstances, but not even Dori’s intricate braids could withstand the hardships of the past weeks. 

After a communal bath in the stream behind Beorn’s house, during which many heads were dunked under and small skirmishes were settled, all Company members were now spread around the sunny garden in their underclothes while combing and braiding their hair.

Among them were Fíli and Kíli, who always helped each other with their grooming (which was _slightly_ inappropriate for lads their age) and had perfected their routine years ago. It was Fíli’s turn first. Kíli sat behind his brother and detangled the blond, long hair with a wide-toothed comb while Fíli himself tended to his beard and moustache with a small comb and brush. They then braided Fíli’s hair and moustache, working fast and efficient in a way that could only be achieved through familiarity.

Kíli’s hair was next. Fíli was quick in unknotting the dark hair and fastened a small portion of it with a hairclip, whose twin was resting in his own hair. Fíli moved towards his brother’s front then, examining Kíli’s facial hair. It had been too long since Fíli had tended to it and it had evolved from stubble to the beginnings of a beard in that time. It had been caught in his bowstring a few times and Kíli was glad to have it trimmed to a more practical length again.

Thorin had been wrestling with a particularly nasty knot in his hair when he heard some members of his Company suddenly murmuring in a dissatisfied tone. Looking around, he quickly found the source of their discontent. He was unsure if the company was looking at his nephews because they were practically fused together (Fíli sitting on Kíli’s lap like that, facing his brother with his legs around Kíli’s torso), or because Fíli was sharpening a small knife in that position. But when his eldest nephew grabbed a comb and started to trim Kíli’s beard with that same knife, more than a few members of the company exclaimed in outrage and surprise.

It wasn’t that his nephews had been purposely secretive about it. It just so happened that nobody of the company had seen Fíli trim Kíli’s beard before. (Did they really think that Kíli’s beard did not grow at all during all the months that they had spent together on this quest?! That’s just not physically possible!).

Kíli looked at them with an unimpressed look on his face and Fíli turned his head to see what was going on with their friends. Nobody was bold enough to say it in his face, but they heard some muffled comments about ‘un-dwarf-like looks’ and ‘staying ugly without a beard’. Kíli knew he didn’t possess dwarvish looks and had heard these kinds of comments for as long as he could remember. He looked down and started playing with the hem of Fíli’s shirt, trying to ignore them.

Fíli, on the other hand, went from completely relaxed to furious rage within seconds. His eyes flashed dangerously as he stood up from Kíli’s lap while he spoke “Who said that?”, looking every member of the company in the eye separately.

Dori, ever the one for propriety over practicality, spoke up.

“It’s just not proper for a Dwarf to shave his beard. Especially one in the line of Durin.” Dori said, his resolve gradually weakening under the death stare that he was given by Fíli.

“I am not shaving, I am trimming so it doesn’t get caught in his bow.” Fíli argued, temper flaring at Dori’s insulting comment.

“Still strange, lad. Gimli’s beard is way more impressive than Kíli’s and he is 15 years younger.” Gloin told him, boasting of his son’s perfection.

Fíli’s hands shook in anger over the insults that were directed at Kíli. He wanted to punch them in the face and shave their beards in retaliation. After a few deep and calming breaths he settled for reasoning with them instead.

“How about Thorin then?” Fíli asked them, pointing at his uncle. “He doesn’t have a ‘proper’ beard and he is the heir to the Throne of Erebor, a direct descendent of Durin the Deathless. You have all seen him trimming it. He keeps it short on purpose. So tell him to his face that he is un-Dwarf-like. I argue that he is the most ‘Dwarvish’ of us all. And Kíli’s bow has saved us more than once on our journey, which he can only properly wield because of his trimmed beard. Our facial hair does not define our quality as a person, our actions do!” Fíli’s argument resonated within the Company. Fíli had always been good at diplomacy, knowing how to solve a conflict without bloodshed and with a few well-placed words. This was no different.

“Fíli is absolutely right. I do not hold my brother’s strange baldness over him, do I?” Balin told them, grinning at the ‘Hey!’ from Dwalin and earning laughs from the Company. Just as Fíli was good at diplomacy, Balin was a master in diffusing tension, a skill that had served him well over the years.

With the tension resolved, and after some mumbled apologies directed at Kíli, everybody settled down again and Fíli retook his place in his brother’s lap. He tried to continue trimming, but his hands were shaking in anger. Kíli grabbed his brother’s hands and held them while looking him in the eyes.

“Thank you.” He whispered and bumped his forehead softly to Fíli’s.

“They have no right to judge you. You are perfect.” Fíli answered, the fight draining out of him.

“And your opinion is the only one that matters to me.” Kíli told him happily.

Fíli smiled and quickly kissed Kíli’s nose. Kíli let go of Fíli’s hands and settled them on Fíli’s hips with a mischievous grin gracing his features.

“If you finish my beard then we can probably sneak away for some alone time while the others are still busy with their hair. Then I can thank you properly for defending my honor and you can show me exactly how perfect you think I am.” Kíli whispered.

Fíli’s eyes darkened at the suggestion and he finished the trimming in record time. The Company did not see the brothers again that afternoon.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Let me know if you enjoyed it.  
> Check back tomorrow for the third theme.


End file.
